"And to the winner, the spoils!" Nicholas Wingrave was flushed with wine and the heat of the room, but he was still competently in charge of his faculties enough to put out his hand, ready and waiting for the twenty guineas that Rufus Lovell silently placed there.
"Congratulations, old thing!" Percival Quinn was quick to praise the winner, ignoring Rufus who quietly stood, looking around the party that they were attending.
Nicholas Wingrave smiled mockingly. "And to think, Lovell, we could have been attending your wedding today! It is Michaelmas, after all, and here you are without your bride."
The men around Rufus all laughed, and though he tried to join in, his own laughter did not have the same ring of truth about it.
"Sad as that is," Rufus said quietly, "I think it has taught me the lesson that I was too proud to learn in the first place - no more wagers for me."
"Oh, dear boy, no!" Anthony Griffiths, this time the one amongst them the most worse for wear, clutched at Rufus partly for show, partly to keep him upright. "You must not give up, old chap, the next one is yours for sure!"
The others laughed, but Rufus couldn't bring himself to join in. He had agreed to meet them at this Michaelmas party, mainly because he was the only one who knew the host to any real degree, but he regretted it now. These were not friends, they were just people that he knew. No friends would have asked him to do what he had done; and no friends would find joy in it now.
"Now then, Rufus, no hard feelings." Nicholas spoke with such an air of superiority that Rufus found it difficult not to want to punch him very hard on the nose. "It is not everyone who can beat me at my own game, you know, and you fought valiantly. You know, I think that you may almost have done it, you know, if Mabel hadn't got involved!"
Rufus blinked. "Mabel?"
Anthony belched slightly, and then nodded. "Mabel Edwards. You know, Mabel."
There seemed to be an understanding between the three of them that Rufus simply didn't share. "Mabel?" he repeated.
A smile, rather dark, appeared on Percival Quinn's face. "You mean . . . you mean you don't know? My word, Rufus, and you were that close to wedding Miss Honeyfield and all - I can't believe you don't even know your own downfall!"
"And you can't have Mabel," said Nicholas swiftly. "She's mine now, and I don't like to share."
Percival laughed and muttered something about sharing not working out the last time, and Nicholas gently - or not so gently, Rufus could hardly tell - punched Percival on the arm.
"I'm sorry: Mabel?"
Anthony gave a sympathetic look to Rufus. "Mabel. Mabel Edwards. She went to Miss Honeyfield's house looking for you, that day you went to propose."
Confusion wrinkled Rufus' forehead. "But I don't know a Miss Edwards, Mabel or otherwise!"
Swiftly picking a champagne flute from a servant who was passing - proving that he was far more in control than any of them had given him credit for - Anthony smiled. "Your mistress."
"My - my what? Lord's sake man, you don't believe that rubbish too?"
Percival Quinn laughed at Rufus' words. "No no, ignore old Anthony there, he's too deep in his cups to make any sense. Mabel Edwards was your brother's mistress, don't you remember her? I think she turned up at your place once, looking for money because he had not supplied her with sufficient to see out the month."
Dawning, horrible dawning and realisation appeared across Rufus Lovell's face. "Are you telling me that . . . you're telling me that Mabel Edwards, my brother's mistress, turned up at Juli - at Miss Honeyfield's house, and told her that she was my mistress?"
Nicholas Wingrave shrugged. "From the sound of it, she just intimated that she was Mr Lovell's mistress, and let young Honeyfield work out the rest. But I say again, Rufus, she's mine now, I've been looking for a woman like her for a while, so don't think that you've inherited her along with your brother's money!"
Elation and nausea seemed to be fighting within Rufus' chest as he tried to digest this news. It was all a mistake - a genuine mistake! All he had to do was find Juliana, and he would be able to explain . . .
"Now, don't bother looking for another young lady," said Anthony, grabbing Rufus' arm in a misunderstanding about where he was going. "We'll find you one, and this one won't run off at the first sign of trouble."
"And anyway, we need you to be the judge for our next wager!" interrupted Nicholas to the loud laughter of the other men. "So don't look over your shoulder for more marriage material, Rufus!"
Rufus sighed, turned back to the men he had once called friends, and tried to follow the rules of this new and complex wager.
If he had looked over his shoulder, of course, he would have seen something greatly to his advantage: a young woman with her cousin had just walked into the room, spotted him, baulked, and quickly rushed out.
"You promised me!" Juliana hissed, tugging at her cousin's arm as they left the room. "You promised me that he would not be here!"
"Do I have sole control over the guest list?" Audrey returned, wrenching her arm out of her cousin's reach and rubbing at it. "Do I look like the Queen of Sheba? I had asked Jonathan Brodie not to invite him, I can do no more! My godbrother is not my servant, and this is his party - he can invite who he chooses!"
"I'm leaving." Juliana picked up her skirts and started back towards where they had come in, but Audrey quickly caught up with her.
"Juliana - stop, you can't go."
"Try and stop me!" Juliana shook her head sadly as she strode towards the door. "I should have known, I should have known that any social occasion on today of all days - Michaelmas party, I ask you! I should have stayed at home, where I knew it would be safe!"
Audrey stopped her finally in her tracks, and smiled sadly. "If I could prevent you from ever seeing him again, I would. If I could force him to move to another place, I would. If I could take you with me this Christmas to Scotchmore Castle where I do have ultimate control over the guest list, I would. But I cannot do any of those things."
Juliana bit her lip, and tried not to let the stares of those around them impinge on her. "I just can't see him, Audrey."
Her voice was soft, and it was not hard for anyone around them to see the hurt in her eyes.
"I know," said Audrey quietly. "And I'm not promising that this is going to be easy, or fun, or even a one off. I just need you to attend with me - for an hour. No longer. Then we shall go. I promise you."
Juliana looked around. It was a relatively large gathering, and there were diversions in every room; a whist table in one, a piano with guests entertaining each other in a second, and dancing across the hall. There was no need to see him. No need at all, if she were careful.
She sighed. "One hour. As soon as the sixty minutes are over, we are leaving."
"Yes, Cinderella," smiled Audrey, and she linked arms with her cousin. "Now; dancing, or cards, or music?"
Juliana thought quickly. Where had she seen him? In the card room.
"Music," she said decidedly. "I can't bear the thought of having to dance with a man that I don't know; let's listen to some pianoforte."
And yet, despite their best efforts to avoid him, Rufus Lovell seemed to be ready and waiting for them in the music room. Juliana, spotting him as soon as she reached the doorway, tried to back out immediately and stood heavily on Audrey's foot.
Her yelp of pain gained the attention of the entire room, and Rufus stared. As if by simply wishing for her, there she was, standing in front of him.
"Juliana," he whispered, and unconsciously took a step towards her.
"Juliana, what on earth - " Audrey started to say, but her question didn't need an answer as soon as she espied Rufus Lovell in the room. "Come now, we'll away."
They turned, going to leave the room, but they had been spotted nonetheless.
"Miss Honeyfield!" Rufus found his voice now, and the means to control his steps, and he strode towards them, following them into the hall until he shouted out once more: "Miss Honeyfield!"
The sho
ut brought the dancing to a halt. Juliana froze.
"This is absolutely the last thing that I wanted!" she whispered furiously to Audrey. "This cannot be happening! We need to leave - "
"Stuff and nonsense!" was her cousin's reply. "You really think you can disappear in a crowd now? Everyone is staring at us!"
Juliana swallowed, and looked around her. Audrey was right; they had gained the attention of the entire party, and even Jonathan Brodie was looking at her strangely. There was no way to avoid this confrontation, but she could always attempt to move it somewhere . . . well, private.
"Miss Honeyfield, thank goodness." Rufus Lovell had caught up with them, and he was smiling in a way that made Juliana bristle. How dare he look so happy - hadn't she thrown him off? Hadn't she avoided him, and anywhere that he could be, for weeks now?
"I am leaving," she found herself saying, coldly. "I do not feel well, and neither does Audrey."
"Lady Audrey," said Rufus, bowing to her companion. "I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you, Miss Honeyfield, I tried coming to your house but - "
"I did not wish to see you," cut in Juliana quietly, hoping beyond hope that their entire conversation was not being noted down for the gossip column, "much as I do not wish to see you now. Good day to you, sir."
She turned on her heels, desperate to escape from this place where Rufus Lovell was, but he did not let her go. Rufus had reached out and taken her hand, softly at first, but then with a firm grip so that she could not escape him.
"I need to talk to you," he said, and there was a hesitancy in his voice as he said, "about Mabel."
Juliana stiffened. "This is not the time nor the place to speak to me about your mistress," she hissed.
"And if you try to," interjected Audrey glaring at him, "I shall have you arrested."
Both Juliana and Rufus turned to stare at Audrey, who shrugged. "I'm a Lady," she smiled mischievously. "The Bow Street Runners will believe anything I say."
Juliana rolled her eyes - of course Audrey could barely contain herself to be serious, even in this situation!
She swallowed, all too aware of the burning feeling on her arm where Rufus was touching her. "I have no wish to confront you, sir," she said, looking into his eyes and trying not to fall even more in love with him again. "I simply wish to leave."
"And never see you again," added Audrey. "You can't forget that bit, Juliana, that's very important."
Juliana used her free hand to pry away Rufus Lovell's fingers, despite his attempts to intertwine them with hers, and turned away from him. It hurt to see him so, and she desperately wanted him to offer an explanation, any explanation that was credible - but she had the truth, and that was all that mattered.
She stepped away, and then she heard the words that stopped her in her tracks.
"She isn't my mistress - she never was! She was . . . she was my brother's."
Juliana could hear her own breathing as though it was a rushing waterfall. She could barely hear anything else, and yet she was sure that she had heard Rufus say . . .
She turned around. "Your . . . your brother?"
Rufus took a step forward. "My brother, Hubert Lovell, the one that all of you," and here he turned to the watching crowd, who had the decency to look slightly ashamed, "whisper about, and malign, and tie me to as an example of bad behaviour."
Looking at Juliana, he smiled nervously. "My brother. Another Mr Lovell, and one who had a mistress called Mabel Edwards. I met her but once, when she came to my lodgings looking for money, and I was so accustomed to paying off my brother's various debts that I did not even think to ask why."
Juliana's heart was beating rapidly, and she was struggling to remember to breathe. Had Mabel mentioned Rufus by name - or had she just asked for Mr Lovell? Her memories were hazy, hazy with pain and confusion, but she was almost sure -
"I love you, and I would not lie to you," said Rufus gently. "You know me better than that, and you know that I would only ask for your hand in marriage because I believe that we can make each other very happy!"
Juliana's heart beat once, and then again, and then she turned away, and started to walk towards the door once more.
Nicholas Wingrave guffawed. Rufus' old friends had also stepped out of the music room, and were standing behind him. "You can lead a horse to water, Lovell, but you can't force that delightful woman to think well of you, it's simply not possible!"
The friends chuckled, and Percival Quinn added, "You're a fool, Lovell."
Rufus swallowed, and then he smiled. "I know I am. I've been a fool to allow you four to befriend me, and I was a fool to allow you to manipulate me with that stupid wager. And now I'm a fool for love - I'm a fool for you!" And then he turned and sought out Juliana's eyes in the crowd. She stood there, beside her cousin, surrounded by the rest of the party. "I'm a fool for you, Juliana, and I love you!"
Rufus waited, heart in mouth, desperate to cut into the silence but knowing that he couldn't force this. He couldn't force her. Juliana Honeyfield was a force herself to be reckoned with, and he couldn't rush her.
Juliana smiled. It was an unbidden smile, but to hear him say those words - the words she had felt herself deep in her heart, but had been terrified would never be returned.
She left Lady Audrey's side and started walking towards him - and then her skirts were flying and she was running towards him. Moving at full pelt she threw herself into his arms, and Rufus was ready and waiting for her, ready to throw his arms around her and pull her towards him to satisfy the longing that he had had from the moment that he had seen her.
The kiss seemed to last forever, and at the same time it simply wasn't long enough. But it wasn't the wolf whistles, or the shocked murmurs, that eventually made Rufus and Juliana part. It was just right; their timing was their own.
"So," whispered Rufus softly, with a grin on his face that he simply could not hide. "Does this mean that you'll marry me, Juliana Honeyfield?"
"Marry you?" Juliana looked him up and down as she luxuriated in the feeling of being in his arms. "You may not have won your wager, Rufus Lovell, but you have certainly won my heart."
If you want to meet Lady Audrey, Isaac Quinn, Leonard Tyndale, and Jonathan Brodie again, then read on: each have their own book in the series. On the next page is the first chapter of A Christmas Surprise in which Lady Audrey is the leading star.
A Christmas Surprise - to continue Lady Audrey's story
A Valentine Secret - to continue Jonathan Brodie's story
A June Wedding - to follow Isaac Quinn's story
A Harvest Passion - to follow Leonard Tyndale's story
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A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
CHAPTER ONE